Networld WWI CA Database (Demo)

German Charnel House Tolmin, Slovenia

In the year 1936-1938 the German state built a charnel house on the site of the former military cemetery with 931 graves. The building received mortal remains of about 1000 German soldiers who died on the battlefield along Soča in the 12th Isonzo Battle. The building materials for its construction were brought from South Tyrol. The work was done by a German company from Munich.

The chapel is the central part of the charnel house; its interior is divided into two compartments with a wrought-iron lattice-work. In the first one, the names of the killed soldiers are inscribed on oak slabs, and in the second, in gilded mosaic. In the centre of the room, there is a tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Below this room there is a sepulchral area with the relics of the fallen. The German charnel house is the only preserved location in the area of the Isonzo Front where a greater number of German soldiers are buried.